Family of unarmed man fatally shot by LAPD after pursuit sues city of L.A.
Investigators stand at the scene where Sergio Navas, 35, was fatally shot by an LAPD officer in Burbank in March.
The family of a man who was shot and killed by an LAPD officer after a police chase that ended in Burbank has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, alleging the officer used excessive force when he shot the unarmed man.
Attorneys representing the parents and children of Sergio Navas filed the lawsuit Wednesday, saying the 35-year-old father of three posed no threat when Officer Brian Van Gorden shot him.
The lawsuit alleged that officers “violated proper police procedure” when they stopped their patrol car alongside the car Navas was driving, blocking him in the car. Van Gorden then opened fire “without any warning,” the lawsuit alleged.
Navas, who was shot in the arm and abdomen, died at the scene.
An LAPD spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the department did not comment on pending litigation. An attorney representing the Navas family could not be reached for comment.
An attorney representing Van Gorden defended the officer’s actions, saying he reacted to a “super fluid situation” when the pursuit suddenly ended.
“Had the officer known what he knows now, obviously he wouldn’t have shot the guy,” attorney Gary Fullerton said. “But right at that second, he feared for his life.”
The events leading up to the March 5 shooting began in North Hollywood, where police say two LAPD officers noticed a gold Mercury Sable driving erratically. The car had paper plates, the LAPD said, and police later learned it was stolen.
The officers tried to pull the car over, the LAPD said, but the vehicle sped off. Six minutes later, the chase ended when the car turned onto National Avenue, a short residential street that ends in a cul-de-sac.
There, police said, the two vehicles collided and came to a stop alongside each other. Van Gorden, the officer in the police SUV’s passenger seat, opened fire, striking Navas at he sat in the driver’s seat of the other car.
The lawsuit alleged that police “had no confirmation that Navas had committed any crime” and had no information warranting the “use of the highest level of force and more severe deprivation of liberty possible -- deadly force.”
Van Gorden’s attorney said the officer knew the vehicle was stolen and felt threatened when Navas allegedly opened the car door, trapping the officer inside.
Navas was one of 34 people shot by Los Angeles police officers this year. Nineteen were killed.
Like all LAPD shootings, the deadly encounter will be reviewed by the district attorney’s office, Police Commission and its inspector general.
Follow @katemather for more LAPD news.
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